March

I went to the Little Mister's class and read Cat in the Hat to them for Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 also made an appearance.  Some of the kids may have thought I was the actual Cat in the Hat.

For St. Patty's Day my friend and I put on a party for the Mister's preschool class.  I made rainbow fruit skewers and dip.  She made rainbow cupcakes and these adorable skittles treat bags and the kids made leprechaun masks.  A leprechaun visited our house on St. Patrick's day.  He left some footprints and treats.  Luckily for him, the place was already a wreck due to some prior fort-building, so he didn't have to waste any time on his typical hijinks.  He must have liked our house because he still lives here somewhere, according to the kids, and has been known to take some of their "artwork" to decorate his own little house.

 

 

Baby Sister was invited to a pre-Easter, Easter egg hunt with some friends from church.  The hunt was followed by lunch.  She had a great time.  On Easter Sunday the kids woke up to new umbrellas in their Easter baskets plus a few other small toys and candy.  Then we donned our Sunday best and headed to church.  Brad & the Mister got matching ties. After church and a nap we headed to our good friend's house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt and dinner.  Some of my favorite memories are these annual get togethers!

 



Here you go: Recipes

Due to the overwhelming demand (like five people) for the recipes from my dinner tonight I am posting here to share with the world (or at least those five people).

Miso Glazed Salmon

Preheat broiler to high heat.  Rinse salmon and pat dry then place in a shallow baking dish.  Whisk together the following:

1/4 cup miso paste (you might have to go to Whole Foods for this)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp sake (I used sushi seasoning which from what I can tell is sushi vinegar with maybe some extra spices)
1 Tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 1/2 tsp sesame seeds (I actually forgot to add them in so I just put them on top of the glaze.  I think I like it better that way)
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil

Pour mixture over salmon and broil for 8-10 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.

I will admit that the glaze was possibly a little strong.  The miso paste was very, very thick - basically a solid - and so I think next time I will use less miso paste and/or water it down more.  I just scraped some of the extra glaze off and mixed it with my rice and I thought it was delicious.  I cooked the kids' salmon with the glaze for flavor but then scraped some of it off to serve them because they don't always love sauce.  Actually, Little Mister doesn't love sauce and Baby Sister will eat sauce exclusively, and not her dinner, so I try to minimize sauce in general as much as possible.  If you have hesitations about the miso glaze, just use teriyaki.  I've made teriyaki salmon before and loved it almost as much.

Ok, so the salmon was good but I think everyone's favorite part was the broccoli!  Yes, the broccoli was the favorite!!!!  And it's super easy.  Win. Win.

Crispy Honey Broccoli

Place approx 12 oz broccoli florets in a shallow baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and honey (I used agave nectar) then sprinkle with kosher salt and red pepper flakes.  Broil for 8-10 minutes while salmon cooks, stirring once. 

I used crushed chili peppers from our garden that we had dried so it was much finer than the flakes that you buy.  It was just enough to give it a little heat but not spicy at all.  

I loved this meal.  Easy. Quick. Delicious.  I'm excited to make it again.  Next time I will take a picture.

Snow Day

Last Friday it was 65 degrees.  I went for a jog.  The next day it snowed.  Hard.  For about an hour or two.  It wasn't enough for anything to get cancelled (what a waste!) but we did get enough snow to throw snowballs for Weezer to catch in his mouth (just like the old days) and build a tiny snowman.  The last time it snowed Baby Sister was actually a baby - about four months old.

Sunday morning there was still some left on the ground.  The Mister ran through the snow on the church lawn.  When we came out, it was all melted.  Only our snowman remained.  Today there was just enough of the snowman left for them to stomp on while they played outside...without jackets. Crazy weather.

Baby Sister asked me today when the snow would come back.  I told her when she was four :(

Valen-tiny

Every once in awhile a girl's just got to brag on herself.  I saw some cute bow tie / suspender sets online and thought, I can do that.  So I made the Mister some suspenders and tie for church and a matching skirt for Baby Sister.  Here are my Valentinies modeling their outfits.  The Mister calls this his "handsomest outfit".  Baby Sister was mostly impressed with the heart pockets for her treasures.

 

The day before Valentine's he had a party at school and I whipped up a cute little shirt for him to wear (I just sewed on the tie, of course) and a heart shirt for Baby Sister to match her skirt.  I'm really pleased how they turned out.

Brad was up to his own crafting too.  He had the kids make this handprrint card for me.  So cute!  I'm going to treasure it forever.  Mister recently asked what the biggest number was.  I told him when I was in second grade I learned about a "google" and thought that was the biggest number of all.  He has been using the term frequently now.  And Baby Sister copies everything he says :) 

His class made these moustache cards at school.  I put it on the garage door so that Brad would see it first thing when he came home from work that day.  It made him smile.  Who wouldn't want to be greeted by that face?

 

With all this cuteness, how could we not have a Happy Valentine's Day?!?!?